comma splice

[Troughton1963]

what do most authors do with comma splices?

I just listened to a podcast about the problem and she gave several answers

to make them two sentences.

use a comma and a conjunction.

independent clause, phrase (don't ask me what kind of phrase).

and a semicolon if either side are just a few words.

I am currently writing a story and Grammarly forces me to have 5+ semicolons per page,

That's why I want to learn how to avoid this problem altogether.

T1963

 

[Alice_Rosaleen]

En and em dashes, yo.

 

[KindofHere]

............

 

[TeflonGuy]

Oops! Wrong post. My bad.

 

[SimonDoom]

If you have a comma splice it means you have joined two sentences with a comma. So ditch the comma and insert a period and see how it reads as two sentences first. But don't always do this. Variety is crucial.

 

[jaF0]

I just listened to a podcast

Never do that. Life will be much more simple. You might even be able to type out a paragraph instead of what appears to be a number of disjointed sentence fragments.

 

[NoJo]

Personally I like the Victorian authors' comma-laden style:

Some ill-conditioned persons who sneer at the life-matrimonial, may perhaps suggest, in this place, that the good couple would be better likened to two principals in a sparring match, who, when fortune is low and backers scarce, will chivalrously set to, for the mere pleasure of the buffeting; and in one respect indeed this comparison would hold good; for, as the adventurous pair of the Fives’ Court will afterwards send round a hat, and trust to the bounty of the lookers-on for the means of regaling themselves, so Mr. Godfrey Nickleby and his partner, the honeymoon being over, looked out wistfully into the world, relying in no inconsiderable degree upon chance for the improvement of their means.

 

[GrandTeton]

The most common solution to the comma splice is to ignore it. Only pedants will notice. I've been through too many grammar exercises in elementary school to adopt this solution, though most authors I come across have.

 

[SimonDoom]

The most common solution to the comma splice is to ignore it. Only pedants will notice. I've been through too many grammar exercises in elementary school to adopt this solution, though most authors I come across have.

I suppose people can disagree about this, but I think there's a middle ground between pedantry and the total absence of grammatical standards, which I would call a decent but not obsessive respect for good grammar. I think the avoidance of comma splices falls into this middle ground. If you write without regard for how you combine clauses and phrases, your writing will suffer, and more than just pedants will have a difficult time enjoying it.

 

[KindofHere]

..............

 

[Hypoxia]

I don't know much about grammar (I don't know anything about the rules of grammar) I know what 'looks right,' but since I'm writing to entertain, I punctuate however I want to get the reader to read my words the way they sound in my head. If I was writing an essay, or a thesis, or a term paper, or a dissertation, I'd have to hire a proof-reader.

No adverbs. Excellent.

A book of magickal spells was sometimes called a grimoire. That's dialect for 'grammar' and showed that anyone literate was a sorceror. Use good orthography ==> get burnt at the stake. [reference to current politics deleted] Meanwhile, a good trick is to read (or have someone else read) your text aloud. Note if it sounds a bit off. Alter as desired.

 

[KindofHere]

...............

 

[TxRad]

How high are you?

Usually above a lot of peoples heads.

 

[KeithD]

I do a lot of emdashed side trips in sentences.

 

[AllTheBetterNamesWereTaken]

What do I do with Comma splices....
I write with them!

No seriously, comma splices are cool, especially when you're doing stream of conciousness, especially especially when you are doing stream of conciousness and things are getting hot and heavy and the narrator is losing track of where things are, thoughts are incomplete, noticing things, and wanting and-

Well, you get the idea.

I think comma splice is the patron saint of writing sex scenes, and will stand by that until someone shows me otherwise.

 

[SamScribble]

Many years ago, one of my editors said: 'I don't want to see punctuation.'

I was surprised. 'You don't want me to use punctuation?'

He shook his head. 'I want you to use it. I just don't want to see it.'

Fair enough.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Many years ago, one of my editors said: 'I don't want to see punctuation.'

I was surprised. 'You don't want me to use punctuation?'

He shook his head. 'I want you to use it. I just don't want to see it.'

Fair enough.

Now that is good advice. Seamless punctuation, something to strive for.

 

[Hypoxia]

How high are you?

Eight miles high
And when you touch down
You'll find that it's
Stranger than known

Signs in the street
That say where you're goin'
Are somewhere
Just being their own

Nowhere is
There warmth to be found
Among those afraid
Of losing their ground

Rain gray town
Known for its sound
In places
Small faces unbound

Round the squares
Huddled in storms
Some laughing
Some just shapeless forms

Sidewalk scenes
And black limousines
Some living
Some standing alone​

I usually play that on my Ovation 12-string in E, first position, moving open forms around the neck. No harmonica breaks. Wouldn't be prudent. Usually.

Gosh, who was that British blues babe? A sweet blonde with a face like Christine McVie and a voice like Leadbelly, played bottleneck 12-string deep and dirty. Yeah. [/me wikipedias] Jo-Ann Kelly, that's her! Fuck, I didn't know she died long ago! [/me weeps] She was the best.
_____

ObTopic: I let commas fall where they may. I notice modern magazine texts overflowing with commas. Let no clause escape.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

If the orginal podcast was this https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/e...o-avoid-a-common-comma-error-the-comma-splice, from Grammar Girl, then it's good info.

That said, grammar is there to serve us, not the other way around. It is like Churchill's definition of a gentleman, somebody who never offends another except on purpose. A good writer will not break the rules of grammar except when it serves their purpose.

 

[KeithD]

A good writer will not break the rules of grammar except when it serves their purpose.

. . . and they can keep the reader connected with what they are trying to convey. If they don't, they've failed.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

. . . and they can keep the reader connected with what they are trying to convey. If they don't, they've failed.

Precisely. That is, after all, a writer's purpose. A good writer succeeds at it.

 

[Hypoxia]

Precisely. That is, after all, a writer's purpose. A good writer succeeds at it.

Writers have not all the same purpose. Some are paid liars and manipulators and sowers of discord. Some are nutz. Some write 50 Shades. Oy.

 

[KeithD]

Writers have not all the same purpose. Some are paid liars and manipulators and sowers of discord. Some are nutz. Some write 50 Shades. Oy.

I think you need to meet a better class of writers.

 

[SamScribble]

Writers have not all the same purpose. Some are paid liars and manipulators and sowers of discord. Some are nutz. Some write 50 Shades. Oy.

I have not read 50 Shades. I only know one person who has. Or, perhaps, I only know one person who will admit to having read it. She is a painter. And she is approaching 70. I have known her since she was 20.

'Fifty Shades?' she said, when I asked her. 'That woman needs counting lessons. I thought that I was going to learn a few new tricks. But no.'

 

[KeithD]

I haven't read it either. But then, I haven't seen Titanic either.